Cultural Revolution, Culture War: How Conservatives Lost England, and How to Get It Back (Libertarian Analysis)

“Today’s England is a moral-social basket case, full of violent crime, outrageous state enforcement of political correctness, and protected Muslim extremists.” — Paul Gottfried

First published in 2007, Cultural Revolution, Culture War rapidly became one of the most influential books on the British Right. It introduced the now-familiar analysis of Cultural Leftism, exposed the machinery of New Class domination, and provided conservatives and libertarians with a coherent explanation for England’s accelerating cultural decline. Within weeks of publication, its arguments had reshaped the language of debate across the Right.

Dr Gabb’s central claim is stark. Since 1997, the British ruling class has reconstructed itself as a managerial elite that wages war on both liberty and tradition. It exercises power not only through bureaucracy, policing, and state propaganda, but also through its grip on cultural institutions. Controlling a single plotline of EastEnders, he argues, is more politically effective than a thousand editorials in The Guardian.

The book offers a response as radical as the problem. The present ruling class lives by State patronage. Turn off the taps, and the elite collapses. On that foundation, Gabb outlines a programme of minimal statism—not out of abstract libertarian piety, but because a drastically reduced State is the only structure capable of breaking the New Class and restoring English liberties.

Now recognised as a modern classic, Cultural Revolution, Culture War is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand contemporary England: activists, scholars, journalists, political strategists, and readers seeking an unvarnished account of how a supposedly conservative country came to be governed by an aggressively left-authoritarian elite.

Madsen Pirie:
“Sean Gabb’s case is that England has been taken over by a new ruling class, totalitarian in its ambitions, seeking to direct our thinking in every aspect of our culture. Its influence is more powerful and pervasive than that of government; it wants to mould our behaviour and even our thought to its own norms.”

Paul Gottfried:
“Today’s England is a moral-social basket case, full of violent crime, outrageous state enforcement of political correctness, and protected Muslim extremists.”

Kevin Carson:
“I concur with so much of his analysis of political correctness and multiculturalism as ruling-class ideologies. Official multiculturalism becomes a tool of division and control, serving a class that prefers a population too fragmented to resist.”

A Brief Encounter:
“Not the run-of-the-mill attack on political correctness. Dr Gabb goes deep into the political revolution that is destroying our country, then sets out his manifesto for counter-revolution. Extremely readable, tightly argued, and delivered with unflinching precision.”

Published in 2007, and hailed by conservatives, libertarians, nationalists and anarchists, Cultural Revolution, Culture War is the book that introduced the concepts of Cultural Marxism and Frankfurt School subversion to the English Right. Single-handedly and within a few weeks, it transformed the language of analysis and action on the British political right.

Gabb’s central thesis is that the British ruling class has, since 1997, turned itself into a totalitarian conspiracy, at war both with liberty and with tradition. It fights this war through the traditional means of state power and state propaganda, but also through its achievement of cultural hegemony. Controlling a single plot line of Eastenders is more important than a thousand editorials in The Guardian.

The only response for non-leftists is to seize control of the State and to shut most of it down. The present ruling class all sucks from the nipple of the State. Stop the flow of milk, and the ruling class with collapse. Once this is done, Gabb sets out a challenging agenda of libertarian minimal statism – for all the usual libertarian reasons, but also because that is the only option at present for conservatives and the various kinds of nationalist.

Now seen as a classic, this book is key to any understanding of rightist discourse in modern England. It is a must-read for activists of all persuasions, for political scientists, and for anyone who wants to understand the world in order to change it.

From the Reviews:

“Sean Gabb's case is that England has been taken over by a new ruling class, one that it totalitarian in its ambitions, in that it seeks to direct our thinking in every aspect of our culture. Not content with political power – indeed, its influence is more powerful and pervasive than that of government, it wants to mould our behaviour and even our thought to its own norms.” (Madsen Pirie)

“What comes to mind, as I read Sean’s jeremiad is how silly American movement conservatives are when they glorify the “Anglosphere” and celebrate “our two countries” as paradigmatic “capitalist democracies.” Today’s England is a moral-social basket case, full of violent crime, outrageous state-enforcement of political correctness, and protected Muslim extremists.” (Paul Gottfried)

“But the remarkable fact is not our disagreement on cultural matters, but that I concur with so much of his analysis of the effect of "political correctness" and multiculturalism as ruling class ideologies. Like Gabb, I see official multiculturalism in the hands of the New Class and its state agencies as an instrument of division and control, serving a ruling class that prefers a population without the cohesion to resist.” (Kevin Carson)

“His new book is not the run-of-the-mill attack on political correctness that many writers indulge in; he does not merely recycle tabloid headlines, but goes deep into the heart of the political revolution known as “political correctness” that is destroying our country. He then outlines his manifesto for counter-revolution, the cornerstone of which is unilateral withdrawal from the European Union. The ground is covered in 105 pages with not a word wasted and in a style that is extremely readable as well as enlightening, a rare quality in an academic. His words hit the target as effectively as an English bowman on St Crispin’s Day. Be warned, Dr Gabb pulls no punches and to many his medicine will seem extreme.” (A Brief Encounter)